A bitter political feud took place in Grand County soon after the town was established and it’s still remembered by some today.

The rivalry ultimately resulted in the deaths of three county commissioners and clerk on July 4, 1883 and the later suicide of the sheriff as two groups struggled for political control. More than 100 years later, mystery still surrounds the murders.

As the small town of Grand Lake (established by a group led by William Redman) grew, aspirations to move the county seat from the town to Hot Sulphur Springs emerged. According to the Grand Lake Historical Society, the seat was moved in 1881 after a vote and “much litigation and bickering.”

The argument over the county seat provoked a resentment between the two towns. The dispute separated Grand County into two sections, with Redman and his brother leading Grand Lake and E.P. Weber (manager of the Wolverine mine), Barney Day, and Captain T.J. Dean serving as the leaders of the Hot Sulphur faction.

The contention carried over into the elections of 1881 and 1882. Charles W. Royer of Hot Sulphur was elected sheriff in 1881, which was a win for the Grand Lake side. Henry R. Wolcott was nominated for governor, and Weber and Dean were sent to the Republican convention as “anti-Wolcott men.” Weber even made a speech attacking Mills, claiming he was a murderer and fugitive. According to GLAHS, Mills was allegedly on the run from Mississippi to avoid the consequences of killing a man there.

Weber and Day plotted a meeting of the county commissioners to allegedly drive out the county clerk and treasurer without telling Chairman Mills. The special meeting was scheduled for July 2.

The board worked on the issues throughout the day, and when dusk arrived Sheriff Royer (with the Mills faction) was ordered to present to the board with his bond “should not be declared insufficient and himself removed from office.”

Many of the people involved in the dispute were staying at the same hotel.

At about 9 p.m. on July 4, a burst of twelve to fifteen gunshots rang out. Most hotel guests thought it was only fireworks. A man soon hurried up the road from town, however, exclaiming “Weber has been shot,” according to GLAHS.

Hotel guests ran down the road and discovered Weber shot through his right lung about 200 yards away. They also found Dean shot through his nose and hip.

Barney Day was found at the corner of the hotels’ old ice house nearby, with his head in the lake and shot through the heart. John G. Mills was found in the center of a road nearby with a flour sack with holes cut for the eyes and mouth. He had been shot through the head.

Royer allegedly confessed to Ad Kinney, a liveryman in Georgetown. He committed suicide in the Innes House in Georgetown, as he was reportedly haunted by guilt.

It was discovered that Redman was the man who left a trail of blood to the lake. He fled into the mountains, hiding in a mountain cabin four miles northwest of Grand Lake.

Redman allegedly fled to Arizona and then to South America.

The county seat moved back to Hot Sulphur Springs in 1888. This soothed the discord in the area’s politics.

What is now a serene, scenic mountain town in Colorado was once home to an intense political rivalry that ended in the killing of multiple of the area’s public figures.